Valtteri Bottas claimed his first pole position of the season by qualifying fastest at the Portuguese Grand Prix ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton. This is the Finn’s first pole position since the Sakhir Grand Prix in December.
The Mercedes duo failed to improve on their final flying laps in Q3, but Bottas’ first lap was enough to beat seven-time world champion Hamilton by 0.007s as he set a 1:18.348 to claim pole.
Hamilton set a 1:17.968 in Q2 on the medium compound tyre but failed to replicate his lap time in the final stage of qualifying, as he was denied his 100th career pole.
Aside from the front row
Max Verstappen claimed third, as he did two weeks ago at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. The Dutchman saw his first lap time removed for a track limits infringement which would have been good enough for pole position.
The 23-year-old had one lap to mount a challenge to Mercedes as the wind started to increase meaning it became harder for drivers’ to improve on their lap times. Verstappen only managed to set a 1:18.746, five-tenths off his invalidated effort.
Sergio Perez finished the session in fourth as he made it a second-row lockout for Red Bull. The Mexican was only a tenth-and-a-half off team-mate Verstappen.
Carlos Sainz claimed fifth as he beat team-mate Charles Leclerc for the first time in qualifying since moving to Ferrari.
Esteban Ocon impressed in sixth and has made the most out of his upgraded Alpine car this weekend as they look to have made significant inroads on the midfield pack.
Lando Norris finished in seventh for McLaren, the Woking-based team have struggled throughout the weekend but are hoping for better fortune in Sunday’s Grand Prix.
Ferrari’s Leclerc was eighth ahead of AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly, while four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel enjoyed his best qualifying session for Aston Martin as he made Q3 and took 10th position.
George Russell qualifies in 11th
George Russell responded well after criticism from his crash with Bottas at Imola, by producing a superb Saturday performance that saw the Williams driver advance through to Q2 for the third time this year as he claimed 11th position. As a result will be the first driver to free tyre selection on Sunday.
Antonio Giovinazzi was in 12th place for Alfa Romeo as he beat two-time champion Fernando Alonso who failed to deliver the same performance as team-mate Ocon.
Yuki Tsunoda put his AlphaTauri into Q2 as he took 14th place ahead of the second Alfa Romeo of Kimi Raikkonen, who was left annoyed as he was impeded on his final effort of qualifying.
Daniel Ricciardo was the biggest shock of qualifying as the Aussie had a scrappy lap while others around him improved to finish 16th. This is the first time the 31-year-old has been eliminated in Q1 since the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix.
Despite having upgrades on his Aston Martin, Lance Stroll was unable to progress through to the second stage of qualifying as he finished 17th, ahead of Williams of Nicholas Latifi.
The Haas duo locked out the final row of the grid as Mick Schumacher beat team-mate Nikita Mazepin for the third time this season in qualifying.
